If this is what canons latest sensor tech and Digic 5 can do I can't wait for the 7d and 5d replacements....

Yeah, guess what this thread is about! *runawayandhide*

I guess it was a good idea to skip the "7D/60D/550D/600D" generation as the difference in image quality between that generation and my slightly older 500D is... well... not really noticable. Come on, next generation, be released soon! I want a 7D2! Or even a 5D3!

There are a couple of full reviews here and here. I think both were with pre-production cameras (I may be wrong) but the results look quite encouraging if IQ is the top priority in a compact (-ish) form factor.

Update: And DxO have analysed the sensor performance here. Some interesting comparisons with other cameras and their final comparison with the 7D sensor leaves me wondering if Canon's sensor design has stalled or they have something better that they are reserving for the next batch of DSLRs or the much rumoured CSS.

Hi everyone, I've started testing a final production sample the Canon G1 X, and it was straight in at the deep-end at the excellent Red Bull Roast It BMX event today at the Queenstown Gorge Road jump park!

So here's a set of six action shots taken with the G1 X set to 1/1000 in Shutter Priority with Auto ISO and the lens zoomed all the way in. Under the dim conditions of the day, the G1 X responded with the aperture wide-open at f5.8 and most importantly a sensitivity of between 800 and 1600 ISO. I also had the G1 X in continuous shooting mode without AF and can report it was a pretty frustrating experience shooting almost blind as the bikers shot past. I was also shooting with the Panasonic GX1 with the Leica 45mm f2.8 lens and even it was delivering better feedback between shots.

But it's very early days with the new Canon, and suffice it to say I'll be posting more of my normal landscape shots around Queenstown very soon. In the meantime, i hope you enjoy them and would be interested to hear what you think.

Thanks again to Red Bull NZ for putting on a great event, and of course the riders and organisers of the Gorge Road jump park, a truly world-class venue.

Nice images, Gordon! I reckon the G1X will be my logical choice for a compact digital camera, if I purchase one this year. It may not be everything I want, but the sensor is relatively large, the menu should share at least some characteristics with my Canon DSLRs, and it can use my existing Canon flashguns and ST-E2.

I had come close to purchasing a Nikon 1 V1, and am now glad I did not.

I empathize, Jiko. My latest lens purchase may have made it impractical to buy anything substantial for the rest of 2012. A G1X purchase may come at the expense of selling a couple of more firearms, and I am not yet sure I want to do that.

4x zoom is a quite short zoom range - I wouldn't want an even shorter zoom range. Especially if I don't have my DSLR with me this zoom range is about the acceptable minimum for me. 5.8 is very similar to the 5.6 aperture found on most kit zooms on DSLRs but this lens is starting at 2.8, which is quite nice. And the IS is stronger than on the kit zooms for DSLRs.
I like it.

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The ISO 1600 images look pretty clean for a "compact" which leaves me hopeful that the 14 bit RAW files at ISO < 400 will be really special for a camera of this size.

As I see it the G1 X is all about trade-offs. Obviously I'm no lens designer but that they've managed to achieve f/2.8 at 15mm (28mm equiv) in front of virtually an APS-C sensor is pretty amazing to me. Maybe they could have managed an even wider FoV without increasing the lens size but that surely would have restricted the zoom at the long end. It's worth remembering that they've squeezed, reading the specification, "11 elements in 10 groups (2 double-sided aspherical UA elements, 1 double-sided aspherical element)" into something that gets pretty tiny when not in use.

There've already been a number of reviews commenting about about AF speed. Only Canon will know for sure but maybe they had to make another trade-off with the power of the AF motor given the space available and the relatively large amount, for a compact, of glass being moved around. Some reviewers also fall into a bit of a trap, IMHO, of comparing the AF speed with other compacts. Focus on the G1X has to be more accurately accomplished because of the shallower DoF the camera is capable of compared to other compact cameras. Comparing AF speed with CSCs may not be fair either as they may well have larger lens barrels with room for more powerful AF motors. Speculation on my part but I'm just flagging the possibility that Canon may have done about as well as is it possible to do.

I'm not nearly so inclined to be charitable about the burst speed and shallow buffer, though, which may have been driven more by trying to protect DSLR sales.

There've already been a number of reviews commenting about about AF speed. Only Canon will know for sure but maybe they had to make another trade-off with the power of the AF motor given the space available and the relatively large amount, for a compact, of glass being moved around.

Battery life (or the potential lack thereof) may also have been a consideration. e.g. the GH2 is infamous for short battery life, especially when using continuous autofocus with the 14-140mm kit lens.